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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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HoUbger 



F 83 
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1842a 
Copy 1 



THE CLOSE 



OF THE 



LATE REBELLION, 



IN RHODE-ISLAND. 



AN EXTRACT FROM A LETTER BV A MASSACHUSETTS MAN 
RESIDENT IN PROVIDENCE. 



SECOND EDITION. 



PROVIDENCE: 

B. CRANSTON & CO. 

184 3. 



\p 









For the information of persons at a distance, who may 
read this account, it is proper to state, that most of the 
original members of the suffrage party utterly disclaim all 
connection and sympathy with the violent and sanguinary 
schemes which are here detailed. All sensible men of that 
party know full well that they can easily obtain all they 
desire by peaceable and constitutional measures. 



THE CLOSE 

OF THE LATE REBELLION. 



On Monday, May 16th, Thomas W. Dorr, caUing him- 
self the Governor of Rhode-Island, arrived in Providence, 
from New- York and Washington. He was met at the 
State line, by a gang of armed men and boys, Avho ac- 
companied him in an extra train of cars on the Stonington 
rail-road, to the Depot in Providence, where he was receiv- 
ed by a large collection of people, some armed, some unarm- 
ed. He was escorted into the city by a procession num- 
bering about twelve hundred — three hundred of whom 
were under arms — preceded by a band of music. They pa- 
raded through the principal streets. Dorr, seated in an 
open carriage, with a sword at his side and the bayonets 
of his followers bristling in the rear, seemed to fancy 
himself not only governor, but monarch of all he survey- 
ed. The citizens, for, be it known, that most of those 
who swelled the throng at his heels, could not claim 
the honor of belonging to Providence — the citizens, look- 
ed on, with set teeth and flashing eyes. I had read but 
an hour or two before, Dorr's " Proclamation," herald- 
ing his approach, in which he declared war not only 
against Rhode-Island but against the government of the 
U. States — saying that though the authorities of Rhode- 
Island and of the United States were against him, the 



4 

people were everywhere on his side, and that he was ready 
to make Rhode-Island the battle ground of American lib- 
erty. I had watched this whole struggle with intense anx- 
iety. I thought I could see the interests of rational liberty 
throughout the United States, depending upon the issue. 
Two days' success of such principles as Dorr advocated, 
would have thrown the whole Union into convulsions. 
When therefore I saw this pageant insulting in the 
broad light of a pleasant day the forbearance of the State 
authorities, when I saw the loug-sufFering patience of the 
indignant citizens thus audaciously outraged, when I saw 
Dorr himself surveying with cool atrocity, streets through 
which he had determined to spread dismay and death — 
when I saw all this and no hand raised to prevent it, 
I confess that my faith in Rhode-Island courage and 
love of hberty nearly failed me. My blood boiled 
with indignation. The v/ords of the great Roman orator 
on a similar occasion were ringing in my ears: "Q,uousque, 
&c." "How long, O Cataline, wilt thou abuse our patience? 
To what end will thy reinless audacity lead thee?" — 
There were doubtless some honest, well meaning men, 
who took part in this affair, duped by the falsehoods of the 
leaders ; but there were very many for whom no such apol- 
ogy could be pleaded. 

After parading the streets a few hours and addressing his 
followers in a most inflammatory speech, Dorr took up his 
quarters at the house of one Burrington Anthony, formerly 
United States Marshal for Rhode-Island, and Dorr's High 
Sheriff for the county of Providence. The house is on 
Federal Hill, a short remove from the thickly settled part 
of the city. A large company of armed men were retained 
to guard the house. At one o'clock, P. M., on Tuesday, 
Dorr ordered the signal guns for collecting his friends to 



be fired. They soon came flocking in from all quarters. 
In the afternoon, a company of them came down into the 
city and carried away without resistance, two brass six 
pounders, from the alarm-post of the United Train of Ar- 
tillery. It was generally supposed in town, that the on- 
ly object of this gathering was to prevent arrests. But 
towards night information reached Governor King, from 
sources that could be relied on, that an attack would 
be made on the arsenal that very night. The State offi- 
cers now moved with an energy and resolution wor- 
thy of all praise. A strong additional guard was sent 
to the arsenal. Notices were immediately printed and 
circulated through the city, requesting all who were 
disposed to maintain law and order, to repair forthwith 
to the arsenal and receive arms. A steamboat was des- 
patched as soon as she could be got ready, to bring 
companies from Warren, Bristol, and Newport, and mes- 
sengers were sent off in advance of the boat to give the 
alarm. All this occurred after seven o'clock in the even- 
ing. I went over to the arsenal to receive my musket, 
and there every thing looked warlike. Five field pieces 
loaded with grape and canister looked out of the windows, 
from which at a single word they would have scattered 
death and destruction among any who should provoke 
that word. Rows of loaded muskets were standing along 
the walls, and the guard, strong, calm and resolute, were 
walking their round, or preparing for the contest. On re- 
turning from the arsenal through one of the most popu- 
lous streets of the city, I found that many, walking like 
myself, with their muskets, were stopped by squads of 
armed men, who, aided by the darkness, came suddenly 
upon them and wrenched away their arms. I only avoid- 
ed a fight for my own, by turning into another street and 



taking a circuitous route. About one thousand stand of 
arms were, before 10 o'clock, distributed among the citi- 
zens. But a comparatively small number of these fell in- 
to the hands of the rebels. 

The system of espionage established through the city, 
was one of the most fearful things in this whole affair. — 
A group of citizens could not assemble at the corner of a 
street, in a store, or a public building, and scarcely in 
a private house, but some spy would be standing si- 
lently in their midst, listening to all that was said, and 
taking down the name of any one who expressed an opin- 
ion in opposition to the conspirators. Il is reported that a 
company of fifty armed men were sent to waylay Gov. 
King, with orders to take him and carry him immediately 
to Dorr's head quarters. He happened to pass a little 
earlier than was expected, and thus escaped the snare. 
No man then knew how widely the poison of this rebellion 
had spread through the city. But now it is fully known 
that the mass of the population is sound. Vagabonds, pick- 
pockets, and villains of various stamps are still here — 
"where the carcass is the eagles will gather" — but these 
wretches are so closely watched by our vigilant authori- 
ties that they can do no harm. 

The watchmen in the city, their numbers much in- 
creased by volunteers, were all armed, and many of them 
provided withhorses. The signal was agreed upon, and 
all awaited the event in terrible suspense. At 2 o'clock 
in the morning, the alarm was sounded. The bells rung 
violently a few moments, then commenced the alarm 
toll — three strokes of a bell, answered by three of the 
next, and tha: by another, and so on around the city. 
The moon had set — a heavy fog rested on the river, and 
brooded over the town. The people began to gather. Ev- 



ury good man felt it his duty to show himself — wives 
retained not their husbands — Spartan mothers bade their 
sons go forth. Every one knew the crisis had come. 
A Catahne, talented, reckless, mad, was attempting to sub- 
vert the liberties of the State, and was threatening with 
the torch and the dagger all who dared to oppose him. 
Men who move not on ordinary occasions were out, 
to sustain the law and protect the people. Within fifteen 
minutes after the signal was given I noticed at one of the 
alarm-posts, the venerable and Jiighly respected father of 
the recreant leader of the insurgents — Judge Pitman of 
the United States District Court, a man whose head is 
grey with honored years, but whose heart is young — 
John Whipple, Esq. one of the first lawyers in the state — 
and many others of similar standing. At another alarm- 
post, the brother of Dorr, the uncle and a brother-in-law 
appeared and joined the ranks. Others of his near rela- 
tives were on duty at the arsenal. 

' Men of all classes, of all parties, and of all ages, were out 
under arms to sustain the laws. The wealthiest men in 
the city stood shoulder to shoulder with the strong mus- 
cled laborer and the industrious mechanic. Old men, 
who could scarcely march, tried to join the ranks. One 
veteran I well remember, who entered the armory, 
straightening up to the height of his manhood's prime, 
the fire of youth still beaming beneath the white fringes 
of his wrinkled brows, " Will you take a man luho can 
fight, hut canH run?'''' said he. He was received by a 
spontaneous burst of applause — almost the only sound 
above a low, solemn tone, which I heard on that fearful 
night. I saw too a Polish exile, who had sacrificed 
everything but life itself, for liberty in his native coun- 
try, and who was ready again to peril life to support the 



liberties of the land of his adoption. But I must not con-- 
tinue this specification — the strength, the industry, the re-- 
spectability of the city were on duty. 

The cause of the alarm, was information brought by 
the watch that the conspirators had left their position and I 
were moving towards the arsenal. At two o'clock in 
the morning, they commenced their march. Their num- 
bers have been variously estimated — at from three to eight 
hundred. There were probably six hundred in all, and 
one half of them armed. They advanced /near to the ar- 
senal and demanded a surrender in the name of Colonel 
Wheeler, and in behalf of Governor Dorr. The arsenal 
was commanded by Col. Leonard Blodget, a fearless man 
and an excellent officer. His answer was, "I know no 
such man as Colonel Wheeler, or Governor Dorr." " Gov- 
ernor Dorr is present and with a sufiicient force to bat- 
ter down and take the arsenal if it is not surrendered 
— must I carry back the answer you have given ? " " That 
or none." Dorr then ordered the cannon — two six pound- 
ers, to be brought within musket shot. They were heav- 
ily charged with ball and slugs. He gave the order to 
fire. It was followed by no report. He repeated the 
order with the same result. Suspecting his men of treach- 
ery, he became perfectly furious, brandished his sword, and 
with bitter imprecations seized a match and applied 
it himself. The powder flashed harmlessly upon the piece. 
He probably saw the truth, that his own followers would 
•not sustain him in his desperate career ; and filled with 
rage and chagrin, he withdrew immediately to his old 
quarters. It is now said that some of his own party, 
after having done all they could to dissuade him from his 
mad course, and shrinking from a participation in the 



9 

horrors which iJiey saw he would bring upon the com- 
munity if permitted to carry out his plans, had removed 
the priming, and crowded the chamber of each piece with 
wet paper. If they had not done so, the first discharge — 

which could have done but little damage to the arsenal 

would have been followed by a volley of grape and can- 
- ister, which would have left half the rebels dead upon 
the field. 

Whilst these events were transpiring at the arsenal, 
the companies from the city were moving towards the 
scene of action, a mile and a half distant. Their march 
can never be forgotten by any who were present. The 
stillness of midnight was broken only by the solemn toll 
of the bells, the quick footfall of citizen after citizen as he 
left his home and hurried armed to join the ranks, and the 
occasional report of a cannon, which came booming across 
the cove from the rebel quarters. The companies moved 
on, speechless and without music, a dark mass in solid 
phalanx, amidst darkness and gloom, to a fate they knew 
not, but resolved to meet it like men. You may talk 
of the sublimity of a battle field— 't is nothing to it. 
Many a coward, in the light of day, amid the serried ranks 
of a disciplined host, encouraged by the stirring strains of 
martial music, and animated by the action and the din of 
the conflict has rushed upon the cannon's mouth— but how 
much more awfully sublime the scene, when men leave 
their homes in the darkness of night, and go forth, with 
none of the pomp and circumstance of war, in a silence 
to he felt, to meet black hearted conspirators, they know 
not how numerous, through they knov^r not what snares ! . 
The sudden retreat of Dorr prevented the necessity of 
2 



10 

immediate conflict. At day-light a notice issued by the 
Mayor was circulated through the city, requesting all men 
to close their places of business during the day, and to 
meet at the Cadet alarm-post, at half past seven o'clock. 
Dorr ordered his men to breakfast and to be at their posts 
by seven, prepared to defend him to the last. About sev- 
en, the steamboat arrived, bringing the Warren, Bristol, 
and Newport troops, a hundred and sixty-one in num- 
ber — as fine, resolute looking a body of men as I ever 
saw. It was only the haste of preparation that pre- 
vented more from coming. These noble men, farmers, 
mechanics, and merchants, leaped from their beds, at mid- 
night, at a moment's warning, bade their families a hasty 
adieu, and came away to fight to the death, if need be, 
for all that they loved. Punctual to the hour, the citizens 
assembled and joined the varions military companies, and 
the whole body, amounting to more than five hnndred 
men, with six field-pieces, moved off towards Federal 
Hill, under the command of Governor King and Colonel 
William Blodget, a distinguished merchant in Providence, 
a man of nearly three score years and ten, but with an elas- 
tic step and a fresh heart, who wore the same nnruflfed brow 
on the field as in the drav\^iiig-room. As we were approach- 
ing Dorr's head-quarters, the report came that he had fled — 
but no one seemed to believe it, it was so unlike what we 
liad been led to expect of him. We advanced till we 
were ^i^ithin musket shot of the house. Colonel Blodget 
now ordered a detachment round the hill to approach the 
house in the rear, and soon brought several cannon to bear 
upon it in front. Seeing their situation to be now despe- 
rate, the greater part of the insurgents, who at first num- 
bered three or four hundred, fled, and the rest, taking their 
cannon, hastily withdrew to a well chosen position about 



11 

a qiiartor of a mile otf, leaving, however, a guard at the 
house. Governor King, with the High SherifT, at the 
head of one of the companies, now entered the house, 
amidst shouts and threats, but without a gun being fired, 
and searched it thoroughly, and announced to the troops 
that Dorr had actually fled. His flight, it seems, was so 
secret that only two or three of his own men knew it till 
a siiort time before it was thus announced. A company of 
men on horseback were despatched in pursuit of Dorr, and 
the attention of the rest directed to taking the cannon from 
the remaining mob of insurgents and dispersing them. 
It seemed impossible to do this without the loss of many 
valuable lives. They were strongly posted — they were 
men, ferocious by nature, desperate in circumstances 
and infuriated by liquor. They brandished their lighted 
matches within a few inches of their heavy-loaded can- 
non, and were several times prevented from firing only 
by some one of tb.em less drunk, who struck off tho 
match with a sword just as it was descending upon the 
powder. At this time Ave were facing the brazen throats 
of their cannon, in a perfectly straight street, within half 
musket shot. As soon as the cannon were brought to 
bear upon them a second time they again retreated to 
another skilfully chosen position, upon the brow of the 
hill, and swore they would never be driven from it, but 
but that if pressed, they would fire once and then run or 
die. Our cannon were again arranged to command them, 
and every thing was ready — the critical moment had ar- 
rived — it was an awful moment. The Governor exhort- 
ed them for the last time to disperse. They answered on- 
ly w^ith oaths, and threats, and bravado. 

He waited a short time, and just as the Avord was given, 
the leaders of the rebels entreated the Governor to stop — 



12 

told him that the men were dmnk, and that they themselves 
had lost all command of them ; but that if he would with- 
draw his forces from the ground, they would pledge them- 
selves to return the cannon, and would induce the men, 
as soon as the madness from rum had somewhat abated to 
disperse. There were not at this time more than twenty- 
five of these desperate men around the guns. In consid- 
eration of these statements and pledges, and to spare the 
lives of valuable citizens who might otherwise be slaugh- 
tered, the Governor withdrew his forces. But no sooner 
had they returned to the armories, than the miscreants, 
joined by many others, refused to return the guns and 
commenced throwing up a breastwork to defend them- 
selves. They Avere headed by a man named DeWolf, 
from Massachusetts, who encouraged them to hold out, 
by the hope that they would before morning receive aid 
from New- York and Massachusetts. It was feared that it 
would be found necessary to march against them again. 
If the citizens had been called together again to dislodge 
them, such a height had indignation reached against 
these villians, that I verily believe, no one of them 
would have been left to tell the story. It was thought 
best, however, to leave them in possession of their en- 
trenchments, where they could do no harm, till it should 
be evident that they did not intend to give up the guns. 
They worked all night, and drank deeply of rum — but the 
cold dews and the hard labor, had a wonderful effect in 
sobering them down, so that toAvards morning, finding 
they were not reinforced as they expected to be, they 
brought back the canno7i and disper'sed. 

All is over. In looking back upon the affair, it seems 
almost miraculous that it should have ended without 
bloodshed. To all human appearances, the most san- 



13 

giiinary contest was inevitable. There never was any 
real doubt, at least in my own mind, of the result — but 
1 did not think it would be attained without the loss of 
many lives. 

It teaches a most salutary lesson to the whole country. 
In getting up this excitement, every art of demagogueism 
and deception was plied to the utmost — all the clap-traps 
of party and the cant of faction were employed. The 
name of " thepeople'^ was assumed, and changes incessant 
and boisterous were rung upon it. The extension of suf- 
frage was held up as the ostensible object of the movement, 
while the only real object was to bring a few broken down 
political outcasts again into power. Every effort was 
made and in some cases, too successfully, to identify the 
disorganizers with the great democratic party through the 
country. Nothing was said about this in Rhode-Island. 
It would not go down here. Every body here knew that 
every prominent man of that party was on the other side, 
and the assertion that this movement had any connection 
however remote with the politics of either party, was loud- 
ly and always denied. But out of the State it was differ- 
ent. The respectable men of every party would have no- 
thing to do with it — but the Tammany Hall agitators, the 
Slamm Jacobins, the reckless demagogues, the cormorants 
that scream for plunder near every battle field, were ready 
to adopt this mis-begotten bantling and rear it into a 
champion to fight them into power. Sympathy-meetings 
were held in New- York, in Philadelphia, and even in Bos- 
ton. Many editors throughout the country, some of them, 
perhaps, ignorant of Avhat they were doing, did all they 
could to fan this incendiary flame. But notwithstanding 
all this, at the first call to arms, the people arose in mass 
to vindicate their insulted and outraged name, and guard 



14 

their cherished liberties from the trampUng feet of lawless 
violence, no matter what motto it had assumed, to aid the 
plans of infuriated demagogues, whose passion for power 
rode riotously over every restraint, and made them eager 
to establish a "reign of terror" in happy America — ^aye, 
among the hallowed hills of puritan New-England — aye, 
over the very grave of Roger Williams ! 

This contest, not only shows that no political end is to 
be gained here by resort to threats and violence ; it also 
shows icho are the people. 

Dorr, with his coadjutors, after resorting to every means 
of flattery, to promises of plunder and threats of ven- 
geance, could not find two hundred, no, not fifty men 
fully to sustain them in their violent career. But with- 
in six hours after the first stroke of the alarm bell, the 
Governor found himself at the head of more than five hun- 
dred able bodied men, the muscle and strength of this 
city — the strong hold of the suffrage party — who were 
ready to march and who did march unblenchingly to the 
cannon's mouth to defend the State from the ruthless fury 
of traitors and desperadoes. 

The question is now settled in Rhode-Island. A consti- 
tution will soon be adopted which will suit all but these 
— ^ discarded demagogues. The only reason why such a 
constitution has not been adopted before, is, that since it 
has been called for, it has been utterly impossible to adopt 
one without leaving the state naked to the designs of aban- 
doned men. Now, no such obstacles exist. Dorr has 
gone — " Abiit, evasit, excessit, erupit." He will never 
more trouble Rhode-Island. So he says, and so all believe. 
His own men declare they will shoot him if he returns. 
He has swindled them out of their money and made them 
fools and traitors for nothing, and then deserted them 



15 

and iled. Nearly all the other prominent men of that 
party have either publicly renounced all connexion with 
it, or have been arrested for high treason and placed un- 
der Iieavy bonds to keep the peace. The good men who 
at first joined that party with the impression that its ob- 
ject was peaceably to obtain an extension of suffrage have 
had their eyes completely opened, and behave like men 
who see the truth and feel its force. 

Dorr, is a man of good native talent, but cold, calculat- 
ing, supremely selfish, and doggedly obstinate. He was, 
1 think, at first sincere in his convictions respecting the 
political changes which he proposed in this State. But 
after pursuing them for a time in such a manner, as would 
have secured him success, his love of power, which 
amounted to a monomania, suggested to him what he con- 
sidered a more speedy way, and he pursued that with aU 
the determination of his character, disregarding to the last, 
the most tender and earnest entreaties of all his relatives, 
and heeding not the awful consequences which must have 
attended the execution of his Robespierre-like plans. 

The extent and atrocity of his plans almost exceed be- 
lief. They have been fully divulged. He intended to 
take the arsenal and supply his unarmed followers with 
arms, then to march to the colleges and take them for bar- 
racks and for a fortress commanding the city, then to seize 
the market and break open the clothing stores to supply 
the wants of his troops, and next to proclaim martial law 
in the city, and levy contributions to answer the expecta- 
tions of an equal distribution of property, which had been 
held out to some of his followers, and to enable him to carry 
out his designs. By this time he relied upon being joined 
by so many of the thoughtless rabble from all quarters as 
to be able to bid defiance to all opposition and establish 



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his dominion so that it could not be shaken. That such 
a plan should be formed by a man in his senses, in this 
countiy, is almost incredibk — that it should have come 
so near to succeeding is appalling — that it should all have 
been utterly crushed without bloodshed is almost miracu- 
lous. Nothing prevented his complete success but his mis- 
calculating the extent to which his agents would back him. 
But he has gone, and Heaven has saved us. 

For the last week the impression has been common, 
even among some of his own party, that he was insane. 
But the events of the few hours preceding his flight, — 
his terrible dejection and chagrin, when he found that 
his schemes were all frustrated, will not allow us to adopt 
so charitable a conclusion. 

"On the arrival of the Newport Artillery'', at Newport, 
they were received by 250 men under arms and waiting 
orders. The whole body immediately proceeded to one 
of the churches, where divine service was performed, and 
solemn thanksgiving oftered to that Almighty Power 
whose mercy had given us victory without blood." — Jour- 
nal of Saturday. 

This example should be followed throughout the State. 
It was God who frustrated the designs of these wicked 
men — to Him should be rendered the praise. 

The war is completely over, the excitement should be 
permitted to subside. The ravings of the New Era are 
as idle as they are infamous. It is said that the editor 
has advanced money to a considerable amount to the par- 
ty here. His zeal now smells of copper. If he should 
be able to collect a gang of but-enders and Five-Point 
miscreants, they will be taken care of — New-York will 
have reason to rejoice. 




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